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In an incident that unwittingly points to how the Transjakarta Busway struggles to provide decent service to passengers, a Transjakarta driver passed out behind the wheel at the Harapan Kita Hospital shelter after dealing with a stomachache all morning.

Transjakarta driver Ibrahim Aziz refused to let passengers off during the journey, determined to make it to the Harapan Kita Hospital shelter after being short of breath when his bus reached the Semanggi shelter.

Ibrahim fainted after dropping off passengers at the Harapan Kita Hospital shelter and was soon rushed to the hospital.

Doctors at the hospital found that the driver was suffering from gastric pain because he did not have breakfast before leaving for his early morning shift. Ibrahim’s plight seems to reflect on the conditions of the Transjakarta Busway, which, after seven years, now has to make do with an outdated fleet, dirty shelters and lengthy waits between buses that have affected passenger satisfaction.

A survey of passenger satisfaction conducted by the Indonesian Consumers Protection Foundation (YLKI) in 2010 found that only 50 percent of respondents said that they were satisfied with the overall service provided by Transjakarta.

In the survey published on Thursday, YLKI interviewed 3,000 commuters traveling on Transjakarta buses.

Only 1.61 percent of the respondents said the Transjakarta Busway provided excellent service, while 39.08 percent said the service was decent.

The survey also found that on a scale of five, Transjakarta service from drivers, ticket box attendants and security guards scored three points.

The survey also assessed the quality of the Transjakarta fleet of buses, including their cleanliness and comfort, and found that on a scale of five, the buses scored three.

YLKI also found that 42 percent of respondents complained about the long waits at shelters.

“The respondents said they usually had to wait between 15 and 20 minutes,” Tulus Abadi of YLKI said.

Twenty percent of respondents said they had to wait more than 20 minutes.

Passengers also complained about overcrowding and the lengthy trips in order to get to their destinations.

Tulus said that the two problems were the direct result of the failure to keep private vehicles off busway lanes.

The survey found that private vehicles and privately owned buses often used busway lanes, especially during peak hours between 6 a.m. to 9 a.m and 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Responding to the complaint, Transjakarta bus rapid transit management body director Muhamad Akbar said it would collaborate with the Jakarta Transportation Agency and the Jakarta Police to press ahead with the clearing of busway lanes.

Akbar also said that the limited number of Transjakarta buses had hampered their ability to provide better service.

In 2010, 87 million people used 523 Transjakarta buses serving an average of 357,000 people per day. Transjakarta currently operates 10 routes. Corridors 1 and 9 are now open until 11 p.m.